The most widely used scale for assessing food liking or disliking is the 9‐pt hedonic scale. Unfortunately, this affective scale suffers from problems related to unequal scale intervals and the underuse of end categories, which results in a reduced ability to differentiate among extremely well liked or extremely disliked foods. Magnitude estimation avoids these problems while enabling ratio statements to be made about the data. However, it does not provide absolute ratings of liking/disliking and can be difficult for some consumers to use. We report here on the development of a labeled affective magnitude scale (LAM) scale that has advantages over both the 9‐pt hedonic scale and magnitude estimation. Forty‐four semantic labels were scaled for their affective meaning by subjects using modulus‐free magnitude estimation. The geometric mean magnitude estimates obtained for each semantic label were used to construct a series of labeled affective magnitude scales by spacing the labels along a visual analogue scale according to their obtained semantic values. Reliability and sensitivity studies were conducted to assess the effects of alternative semantic and numeric labels. The results of these studies led to the choice of a scale format that uses verbal labels that are consistent with the 9‐pt hedonic scale. The labeled affective magnitude (LAM) scale was compared to the hedonic scale and magnitude estimation in several food preference and acceptability tests. The LAM was shown to have equal reliability and sensitivity to the hedonic scale, provided somewhat greater discrimination among highly liked foods, and resulted in data that were similar to magnitude estimation in terms of the obtained ratios among rated stimuli. The LAM scale was also judged by consumers to be as easy to use as the 9‐pt hedonic scale and significantly less difficult than magnitude estimation.

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Three studies were conducted to assess the effects of disconfirmed consumer expectations on food acceptability. In the first, disconfirmed expectations for the sensory attributes of an edible film had a negative effect on acceptability of the film. Greater disconfirmation resulted in lower acceptance and purchase intent. In the second study, written product information was used to establish three levels of expected acceptability and expected bitterness for a novel fruit beverage. Comparison of preexposure (expected) and postexposure (perceived) ratings of acceptability and bitterness supported an assimilation model of disconfirmation effects for conditions in which expectations of acceptability were high and expectations of bitterness were low. A contrast effect was observed for bitterness judgments when expectations of bitterness were high. Associative effects resulting from the expectation manipulation were observed on other sensory attributes. In the third study, expectations were manipulated to influence both direction (positive versus negative) and degree of disconfirmation for the acceptance of cola beverages. Results provided further support for an assimilation model of these effects.

Four experiments were conducted to assess the effect of food color on flavor identification of noncarbonated beverages and to assess the interactive effect of food color and flavor levels on the perceived flavor intensity and hedonic quality of beverages and cake. Results showed that color masking dramatically decreased flavor identification of fruit-flavored beverages, while atypical colors induced incorrect flavor responses that were characteristically associated with the atypical color. In addition, the color level of beverages had significant effects on their overall acceptability, acceptability of color and of flavor, as well as on flavor intensity. The same results were shown with cake samples, with the exception that a significant interaction of color and flavor level was observed on overall acceptability. Correlational analysis on the subjective dimensions showed that the overall acceptability of both the beverage and cake products was more closely associated with ratings of flavor acceptability than with ratings of color acceptability. In addition, a test of the effect of colorant safety information showed that such information did not decrease any aspect of a product's acceptability.

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